Concrete bridge system and related methods

ABSTRACT

A concrete culvert assembly includes a set of spaced apart elongated footers, a plurality of precast concrete culvert sections supported by the footers. Each concrete culvert section has an open bottom, an arch-shaped top wall and spaced apart side walls to define a passage thereunder, each of the side walls extending downward and outward from the top wall. Each of the side walls has a substantially planar inner surface and a substantially planar outer surface. First and second haunch sections each join one of the side walls to the top wall. Each side wall is tapered from top to bottom such that a thickness of each side wall decreases when moving from the top of each side wall to the bottom of each side wall. A bottom portion of each side wall has an exterior vertical flat extending upward from a horizontal bottom surface thereof.

CROSS-REFERENCES

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.Nos. 61/595,404, filed Feb. 6, 2012; 61/598,672, filed Feb. 14, 2012;and 61/714,323 filed Oct. 16, 2012, each of which is incorporated hereinby reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to the general art of structural, bridgeand geotechnical engineering, and to the particular field of concretebridge and culvert structures.

BACKGROUND

Overfilled bridge structures are frequently formed of precast orcast-in-place reinforced concrete and are used in the case of bridges tosupport a first pathway over a second pathway, which can be a waterway,a traffic route, or in the case of other structures, a buried storagespace or the like (e.g., for stormwater detention). The term “overfilledbridge” will be understood from the teaching of the present disclosure,and in general as used herein, an overfilled bridge is a bridge formedof bridge elements or units that rest on a foundation with soil or thelike resting thereon and thereabout to support and stabilize thestructure and in the case of a bridge to provide the surface of (orsupport surface for) the first pathway.

In any system used for bridges, particularly stream crossings, engineersare in pursuit of a superior blend of hydraulic opening and materialefficiency. In the past, precast concrete bridge units of variousconfigurations have been used, including four side units, three-sidedunits and true arches (e.g., continuously curving units). Historicalsystems of rectangular or box-type four-sided and three-sided units haveproven inefficient in their structural shape requiring large side walland top-slab thicknesses to achieve desired spans. Historical archshapes have proven to be very efficient in carrying structural loads butare limited by their reduced hydraulic opening area. An improvement, asshown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,872, was introduced thatcombined vertical side walls and an arched top that provided a benefitwith regard to this balance of hydraulic open area to structuralefficiency. One of the largest drivers to structural efficiency of anyculvert/bridge shape is the angle of the corners. The closer to 90degrees at the corner, the higher the bending moment and therefore thethicker the cross-section of the haunch needs to be. Thus, the currentvertical side and arch top shape is still limited by the corner angle,which while improved is still at one-hundred fifteen degrees.

A variation of the historic flat-top shape has also been introduced, asshown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,770,250, that combines a flat, horizontal topwith an outwardly flared leg of uniform thickness. The resulting shapeprovides some improvements to hydraulic efficiency versus the flat-topby adding open area and also provides some improvement structurally byflattening the angle between the top and legs to about one-hundred tendegrees. However, flat-tops are severely limited in the ability to reachlonger spans needed for many applications (e.g., the effective limit forflat top spans is in the range of thirty to forty feet).

An improved bridge system would therefore be advantageous to theindustry.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a concrete culvert assembly for installation in theground, includes a set of spaced apart elongated footers and a pluralityof precast concrete culvert sections supported by the footers in side byside alignment. Each of the concrete culvert sections has an openbottom, a top wall and spaced apart side walls to define a passagethereunder. Each of the side walls extends downward and outward from thetop wall and has a substantially planar inner surface and asubstantially planar outer surface. The top wall has an arch-shapedinner surface and an arch-shaped outer surface and a substantiallyuniform thickness. First and second haunch sections each join one of theside walls to top wall, each haunch section defining a corner thicknessgreater than the thickness of the top wall. For each side wall bot aninterior angle and an exterior angle is defined. The interior side wallangle is defined by intersection of a first plane in which the innersurface of the side wall lies and a second plane that is perpendicularto a radius that defines at least part of the arch-shaped inner surfaceof the top wall at a first point along the arch-shaped inner surface ofthe top wall. The exterior side wall angle defined by intersection of athird plane in which the outer surface of the side wall lies and afourth plane that is perpendicular to a radius that defines at leastpart of the arch-shaped outer surface of the top wall at a second pointalong the arch-shaped outer surface. The third plane is non-parallel tothe first plane. The interior side wall angle is at least one-hundredand thirty degrees and the exterior side wall angle is at leastone-hundred and thirty-five degrees, with the exterior side wall anglebeing different than the interior side wall angle. Each side wall istapered from top to bottom such that a thickness of each side walldecreases when moving from the top of each side wall to the bottom ofeach side wall.

In one implementation of the foregoing aspect, for each side wall ofeach concrete culvert section, an angle of intersection between thefirst plane and the third plane is at least 1 degree.

In one implementation of the concrete culvert assembly of the twopreceding paragraphs, for each culvert section, a ratio of haunchthickness to top wall thickness is no more than about 2.30.

In one implementation of the concrete culvert assembly of any of thethree preceding paragraphs, for each concrete culvert section, the innersurface of each side wall intersects with an inner surface of itsadjacent haunch section at an interior haunch intersect line, a verticaldistance between the defined interior haunch intersect line and top deadcenter of the arch-shaped inner surface of the top wall being between nomore than eighteen percent (18%) of a radius of curvature of thearch-shaped inner surface of the top wall at top dead center.

In one implementation of the concrete culvert assembly of any of thefour preceding paragraphs, for each concrete culvert section, the innersurface of each side wall intersects with an inner surface of itsadjacent haunch section at an interior haunch intersect line, the haunchsection includes an exterior corner that is spaced laterally outward ofthe interior haunch intersect line, and a horizontal distance betweeneach interior haunch intersect line and the corresponding exteriorcorner is no more than about 91% of the horizontal width of the bottomsurface of the side wall.

In one implementation of the concrete culvert assembly of any of thefive preceding paragraphs, for each concrete culvert assembly, adistance between the inner surface at the bottom of one side wall andthe inner surface at the bottom of the other side wall defines a bottomspan of the unit, the bottom span is greater than a radius of curvatureof the arch-shaped inner surface of the top wall at top dead center.

In one implementation of the concrete culvert assembly of any of the sixpreceding paragraphs, for each concrete culvert section, the thicknessat the bottom of each side wall is no more than 90% of the thickness ofthe top wall at top dead center of the top wall.

In one implementation of the concrete culvert assembly of any of theseven preceding paragraphs, for each concrete culvert section, a bottomportion of each side wall of each culvert section includes a verticalflat segment on the outer surface.

In one implementation of the concrete culvert assembly of any of theeight preceding paragraphs, each end unit of the plurality of concreteculvert sections includes a corresponding headwall assembly positionedon the top wall and the side walls.

In one implementation of the concrete culvert assembly of any of thenine preceding paragraphs, each headwall assembly includes a topheadwall portion and side headwall portions that are formed unitary witheach other and connected to the top wall and side walls by at least onecounterfort structure on the top wall and at least one counterfortstructure on each side wall. In another implementation of the concreteculvert assembly of any of the nine preceding paragraphs, each headwallassembly includes a top headwall portion and side headwall portions thatare formed by at least two distinct pieces, the headwall assemblyconnected to the top wall and side walls by at least one counterfortstructure on the top wall and at least one counterfort structure on eachside wall.

In one implementation of the concrete culvert assembly of any of the tenpreceding paragraphs, each haunch section includes an inner surfacedefined by a haunch radius, for each side wall the first point is thelocation where the radius that defines the arch-shaped inner surface ofthe top wall meets the haunch radius associated with the side wall.

In one implementation of the concrete culvert assembly of any of theeleven preceding paragraphs, each concrete culvert section is formed intwo halves, each half formed by one side wall and a portion of the topwall, the two top portions secured together along a joint at a centralportion of the top wall of the culvert section.

In one implementation of the concrete culvert assembly of any of thetwelve preceding paragraphs, for each side wall the first point is alocation at which the arch-shaped inner surface meets an inner surfaceof the haunch section adjacent the side wall, and the second point iseither a location where the arch-shaped outer surface intersects thethird plane or a location where the arch-shaped outer surface meets aplanar end outer surface portion of the top wall at the haunch section.

In another aspect, a method is provided for manufacturing a concreteculvert section having an open bottom, a top wall and spaced apart sidewalls to define a passage thereunder, each of the side walls having asubstantially planar inner surface and a substantially planar outersurface, the top wall having an arch-shaped inner surface and anarch-shaped outer surface and a substantially uniform thickness, eachside wall having varying thickness that decreases when moving from thetop of each side wall to the bottom of each side wall, first and secondhaunch sections, each haunch section joining one of the side walls tothe top wall, and each haunch section defining a corner thicknessgreater than the thickness of the top wall. The method involves:providing a form system in which, for each side wall, an interior formstructure portion defines the position of the inner surface of the sidewall and an exterior form structure portion defines the position andorientation of the outer surface of the side wall, the exterior formstructure portion arranged to pivot or to move along a surface of topwall form structure portion; based upon an established bottom span orrise for the culvert section, pivoting the exterior form structureportion or moving the exterior form structure portion to a position thatsets a relative angle between interior form structure portion and theexterior form structure portion; and filling the form structure withconcrete to produce the culvert section.

In one implementation of the method of the preceding paragraph, the formstructure lays on one face and the exterior form structure portion foreach side wall includes a bottom side arranged to slide over acorresponding side wall form seat structure.

In one implementation of the method of any of the two precedingparagraphs, a bottom form structure is positioned between the interiorform structure and the exterior form structure to define the intendedwidth for the bottom surface of the resulting side wall.

In another aspect, a concrete culvert assembly for installation in theground includes a set of spaced apart elongated footers, and a pluralityof precast concrete culvert sections supported by the footers in side byside alignment. Each of concrete culvert sections has an open bottom, atop wall and spaced apart side walls to define a passage thereunder.Each of the side walls extends downward and outward from the top walland has a substantially planar inner surface and a substantially planarouter surface. The top wall has an arch-shaped inner surface and anarch-shaped outer surface, first and second haunch sections, each haunchsection joining one of the side walls to the top wall, each haunchsection defining a corner thickness greater than the thickness of thetop wall. Each side wall is tapered from top to bottom such that athickness of each side wall decreases when moving from the top of eachside wall to the bottom of each side wall. A ratio of haunch thicknessto top wall thickness at top dead center is no more than about 2.30. Theinner surface of each side wall intersects with an inner surface of itsadjacent haunch section at an interior haunch intersect line, and eachhaunch section includes an exterior corner that is spaced laterallyoutward of the interior haunch intersect line. A horizontal distancebetween each interior haunch intersect line and the correspondingexterior corner is no more than about 91% of a horizontal width of thebottom surface of the side wall, the thickness at the bottom of eachside wall is no more than 90% of the thickness of the top wall at topdead center of the top wall, and a ratio of a first vertical distanceover a second vertical distance is at least about 55%, where the firstvertical distance is the vertical distance between the height of theexterior corner of the haunch and the height of top dead center of thearch-shaped outer surface of the top wall, and the second verticaldistance is the vertical distance between the height of a definedinterior haunch intersect line and the height of top dead center of thearch-shaped inner surface of the top wall.

In one implementation of the concrete culvert assembly of the precedingparagraph, each concrete culvert section is formed in two halves, eachhalf formed by one side wall and a portion of the top wall, the two topportions secured together along a joint at a central portion of the topwall of the culvert section.

In another aspect, a concrete culvert section includes an open bottom, atop wall and spaced apart side walls to define a passage thereunder,each of the side walls extending downward and outward from the top wall.Each of the side walls has a substantially planar inner surface and asubstantially planar outer surface, and the top wall has an arch-shapedinner surface and an arch-shaped outer surface and a substantiallyuniform thickness. First and second haunch sections each join one of theside walls to the top wall, each haunch section defining a cornerthickness greater than the thickness of the top wall. For each side wallan interior side wall angle is defined by intersection of a first planein which the inner surface of the side wall lies and a second plane thatis perpendicular to a radius that defines at least part of thearch-shaped inner surface of the top wall at a first point along thearch-shaped inner surface of the top wall. An exterior side wall angleis defined by intersection of a third plane in which the outer surfaceof the side wall lies and a fourth plane that is perpendicular to aradius that defines at least part of the arch-shaped outer surface ofthe top wall at a point along the arch-shaped outer surface, the thirdplane being non-parallel to the first plane. The interior side wallangle is at least one-hundred and thirty degrees, the exterior side wallangle is at least one-hundred and thirty-five degrees, the exterior sidewall angle is different than the interior side wall angle. Each sidewall is tapered from top to bottom such that a thickness of each sidewall decreases when moving from the top of each side wall to the bottomof each side wall.

In one implementation of the culvert section of the preceding paragraph,a ratio of a first vertical distance over a second vertical distance isat least about 55%, where the first vertical distance is the verticaldistance between the height of exterior corner of the haunch and theheight of top dead center of the arch-shaped outer surface of the topwall, and the second vertical distance is the vertical distance betweenthe height of a defined interior haunch intersect line and the height oftop dead center of the arch-shaped inner surface of the top wall.

In one implementation of the culvert section of either of the twopreceding paragraphs, each haunch section includes an inner surfacedefined by a haunch radius, the first point is the location where theradius that defines the arch-shaped inner surface of the top wall meetsthe haunch radius.

In one implementation of the culvert section of any of the threepreceding paragraphs, the concrete culvert section is formed by twohalves, each half formed by one side wall and a portion of the top wall,the two top portions secured together along a joint at a central portionof the top wall of the culvert section.

In one implementation of the culvert section of any of the fourpreceding paragraphs, each side wall has an exterior vertical flatextending upward from a horizontal bottom surface thereof.

In another aspect, a concrete culvert assembly for installation in theground includes a set of spaced apart elongated footers, a plurality ofprecast concrete culvert sections supported by the footers in side byside alignment. Each of the concrete culvert sections has an openbottom, an arch-shaped top wall and spaced apart side walls to define apassage thereunder, each of the side walls extending downward andoutward from the top wall. Each of the side walls has a substantiallyplanar inner surface and a substantially planar outer surface. First andsecond haunch sections each join one of the side walls to the top wall,each haunch section defining a corner thickness greater than a thicknessof the top wall. Each side wall is tapered from top to bottom such thata thickness of each side wall decreases when moving from the top of eachside wall to the bottom of each side wall. A bottom portion of each sidewall has an exterior vertical flat extending upward from a horizontalbottom surface thereof, wherein the exterior vertical flat is betweenabout 3 inches and 7 inches high.

In one implementation of the culvert assembly of the precedingparagraph, each concrete culvert section is formed in two halves, eachhalf formed by one side wall and a portion of the top wall, the two topportions secured together along a joint at a central portion of the topwall of the culvert section.

In one implementation of the culvert assembly of either of the twopreceding paragraphs, each culvert section is seated atop a foundationsystem and the exterior vertical flat of each culvert section abutslateral supporting structure of the foundation system.

In one implementation of the culvert assembly of any of the threepreceding paragraphs, the foundation system includes precast concreteunits and cast-in-place concrete, the lateral supporting structure iscast-in-place concrete.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a culvert section;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the culvert section of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the culvert section of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial side elevation showing the haunch of the culvertsection of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4A is a partial side elevation showing an alternative configurationof the outer surface in the region of the top wall and haunch;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation showing configurations corresponding variousrises;

FIGS. 6 and 6A show a partial schematic view of a form system used toproduce the culvert section of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a partial side elevation showing the haunch of the culvertsection of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a culvert section;

FIG. 9 is a side elevation of the culvert section of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a partial side elevation of the culvert section of FIG. 8atop a footer;

FIGS. 11-14 show one embodiment of a plurality of culvert sectionsaccording to FIG. 1 arranged side by side on spaced apart footers, witheach end unit including a headwall assembly;

FIG. 15 shows a side elevation depicting representative reinforcementwithin the concrete culvert section and generally running in proximityto and along the inner and outer surfaces of the top wall and sidewalls; and

FIGS. 16-18 show an alternative embodiment of a form system forconstructing the units;

FIGS. 19-21 show a culvert assembly atop one embodiment of a foundationsystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, perspective, side elevation and end elevationviews of an advantageous precast concrete culvert unit/section 10 areshown. The culvert unit 10 includes an open bottom 12, a top wall 14 andspaced apart side walls 16 to define a passage 18 thereunder. Each ofthe side walls has a substantially planar inner surface 20 and asubstantially planar outer surface 22. The top wall has an arch-shapedinner surface 24 and an arch-shaped outer surface 26 and a substantiallyuniform thickness T_(TW). In various implementations, the arch-shapedinner surface and arch-shaped outer surface can each be made up of ordefined by (i) a respective single radius, (ii) a respective set ofjoined radiuses (e.g., the surface is curved along its entire length) or(iii) in some cases planar sections may be included either the mostcenter region of each arch-shaped surface or at the end portion of eacharch-shaped surface. As used herein the term “arch-shaped” whenreferring to such surfaces encompasses all such variations. Haunchsections 28 join each side wall 16 to the top wall 14.

Each haunch section has a corner thickness T_(HS) greater than thethickness T_(TW) of the top wall. In this regard, the corner thicknessT_(HS) is measured perpendicular to the curved inner surface 30 of thehaunch section along a line that passes through the exterior corner 32of the haunch section. While the larger corner thickness of a unit ascompared to the side wall and top wall thickness of the same unit iscritical to the structural performance of the unit, the present culvertunit is configured to more effectively distribute load from the top wallto the side walls of the present culvert unit so that the cornerthickness of the present culvert unit can be reduced in comparison toprior art culvert units.

In this regard, and with reference to the partial view of FIG. 4, aninterior side wall angle θ_(ISWA) between the side wall 16 and the topwall 14 is defined by intersection of a plane 34 in which the innersurface of the side wall lies and a line or plane 36 that is tangent tothe inner surface 24 of the top wall at the point or line 38 where thetop wall inner surface 24 meets the haunch inner surface 30 (e.g., wherethe inner surface of the unit transitions from the radius R_(TW) to theradius R_(H) defining the inner surface haunch). Thus, the plane 36 isperpendicular to the radius R_(TW) that defines the arch-shaped innersurface of the top wall at a point 38 where the radius R_(TW) stops andthe radius R_(H) starts. In some implementations R_(TW) will define theentire span of inner surface 24 from haunch to haunch. In otherimplementations the center portion of the top wall inner surface 24 maybe defined by one radius and the side portions of the inner surface 24may be defined by a smaller radius R_(TW). The illustrated unit 10 isconstructed such that the interior side wall angle θ_(ISWA) is at leastone-hundred and thirty degrees, and more preferably at least one-hundredthirty-three degrees. This relative angle between the top wall and sidewall reduces bending moment in the haunch section as compared to priorart units, enabling the thickness of the haunch sections 28 to bereduced and the amount of steel used in the haunch sections to bereduced, resulting in a reduction in material needed, along with acorresponding reduction in unit weight and material cost per unit.Moreover, the center of gravity of the overall unit is moved downward byreducing concrete in the haunch sections, thereby placing the center ofgravity closer to the midway point along the overall height or rise ofthe unit. As units will be generally shipped laying down as opposed toupright, and it is desirable to place the center of gravity in alignmentwith the center line of the vehicle bed used to ship the units, thislowering of the center of gravity can facilitate proper placement ofunits with an overall greater height on the vehicle bed withoutrequiring as much overhang as prior art units.

This reduction in concrete usage can further be enhanced by appropriateconfiguration of the side walls 16 of the unit. Specifically, anexterior side wall angle θ_(ESWA) between the top wall 14 and the sidewall 16 is defined by intersection of a plane 42 in which the outersurface 22 of the side wall lies and a line or plane 44 that is tangentto the top wall outer surface 26 at the point or line 46 where the outersurface 26 intersects the plane 42. It is noted that for the purpose ofevaluating the exterior side wall angle the outer surface of the topwall is considered to extend along the full span at the top of the unit(e.g., from corner 32 to corner 32). The radius that defines the outersurface 26 of the top wall near the corners 32 may typically beR_(TW)+T_(TW), but in some cases the radius of the outer surface 26 inthe corner or end region may vary. In other cases, particularly forlarger spans, as shown in FIG. 4A, the corner or end regions of outersurface 26 may include planar end portions 27, in which case the plane44′ would in fact be perpendicular to the radius (e.g., R_(TW)+T_(TW))that defines the outer surface 26 at the point or line 29 where thatradius (e.g., R_(TW)+T_(TW)) meets the planar end portion 27 of thesurface 26.

As shown, the exterior side wall plane 42 is non-parallel to theinterior side wall plane 34, such that each side wall 16 is tapered fromtop to bottom, with thickness along the height of the side walldecreasing when moving from the top of each side wall down toward thebottom of each side wall. In this regard, the thickness of the side wallT_(SW) at any point along it height is taken along a line that runsperpendicular to the interior side wall plane 34 (e.g., such as line 48in FIG. 4). By utilizing side walls with tapered thickness, thethickness of the bottom portion of the side wall (e.g., where loads aresmaller) can be reduced. Preferably, the thickness at the bottom of eachside wall may be no more than about 90% of the thickness of the topwall, resulting in further concrete savings as compared to units inwhich all walls are of uniform and common thickness. Generally, in thepreferred configuration for concrete reduction, the exterior side wallangle is different than the interior side wall angle, and issignificantly greater than angles used in the past, such that theexterior side wall angle θ_(ESWA) is at least one-hundred andthirty-five degrees and, in many cases, at least one-hundred andthirty-eight degrees. An angle of intersection θ_(PI) between the plane34 in which the inner surface lies and the plane 42 in which the outersurface lies may be between about 1 and 20 degrees (e.g., between 1 and4 degrees), depending upon the extent of taper, which can vary asdescribed in further detail below. In certain implementations, the angleθ_(PI) is preferably at least about 2-4 degrees.

Overall, the configuration of the culvert section 10 allows for bothhydraulic and structural efficiencies superior to previously knownculverts. The hydraulic efficiency is achieved by a larger bottom spanthat is better capable of handling the more common low flow stormevents. The structural efficiency is achieved by the larger side wall totop wall angle that enables the thickness of the haunch to be reduced,and enabling more effective longer span units (e.g., spans of 48 feetand larger). The reduced corner thickness and tapered legs reduce theoverall material cost for concrete, and enables the use of smaller cranesizes (or longer pieces for the same crane size) during on-siteinstallation due to the weight advantage.

The tapered side wall feature described above can be most effectivelyutilized by actually varying the degree of taper according to the riseto be achieved by the precast concrete unit. Specifically, and referringto the side elevation of FIG. 5, the rise of a given unit is defined bythe vertical distance from the bottom edges 50 of the side walls 16 totop dead center 52 of the arch-shaped inner surface 24 of the top wall14. Three different rises are illustrated in FIG. 5, with rise R1 beingthe rise for the unit shown in FIGS. 1-3, rise R2 being a smaller riseand rise R3 being a larger rise. As shown, the side wall taper varies asbetween the three different rises, utilizing a constant top span S_(TW)defined as the horizontal distance between the haunch corners 32.Notably, in one embodiment, the side wall taper is more aggressive inthe case of the smaller rise R2 as demonstrated by the exterior sidewall surface 22′ shown in dashed line form, and the side wall taper isless aggressive in the case of the larger rise R3 as demonstrated by theexterior side wall surface 22″ shown in dashed line form. This variationin taper is achieved by varying the exterior side wall angle θ_(ESWA)(FIG. 4) according to the rise or bottom span for the unit that is to beproduced. Each bottom span (S_(BR1), S_(BR2), S_(BR3)) is defined as thehorizontal distance between the bottom edges of the side wall innersurfaces 20. The bottom span is preferably greater than the radius ofcurvature R_(TW) of the arch-shaped inner surface of the top wall at topdead center in order to provide more effective waterway area for lowerflow storm events (e.g., in the case of creek or stream crossings). Asshown FIG. 5, the inner surface 20 of the side walls varies in lengthover the different rises, but the interior side wall angle does notvary.

In order to achieve the variable side wall taper feature, a form systemis used in which, for each side wall, an interior form structure portionfor defining the interior side wall angle is fixed and an exterior formstructure portion defining the exterior side wall angle can be varied bypivoting. The pivot point for each exterior form structure portion isthe exterior corner 32 of the haunch section. Based upon a desiredbottom span or rise for the culvert section to be produced using theparticular form, the exterior form structure portion is pivoted to aposition that sets the appropriate exterior side wall angle and theexterior form structure portion is locked in position. The formstructure is then filled with concrete to produce the culvert section.With respect to the pivoting operation, as shown schematically in FIG.6, the form 60 is placed on its side for the purpose of concrete filland casting. A form seat 62 is provided for each side wall, with theinterior form structure portion 64 seating alongside the edge of theform seat 62 as is typical in precasting of bridge units. However, theexterior form structure portion 66, which pivots about a hinge axis 68,has its bottom edge raised (relative to the bottom edge of portion 64)so that portion 66 can move across the top surface of the form seat 62during pivot. The exterior side wall angle may, in each case, beachieved by establishing a consistent horizontal width W_(SB) (FIG. 2)for the bottom surface of the side wall for a given top span S_(TW),regardless of the rise being produced. The form system includes a bottomform panel member 63 that is movable along the height of the formportion 64 and can be bolted in place using bolt holes 69 provided inthe form structure 64. Similar bolt holes would be provided in the edge67 of panel 63, and the edge 67 would be angled to match the surface ofform portion 64 so that surface 65 of the panel will be horizontal wheninstalled. Any unused bolt holes would be filled with plug members. Oncethe bottom panel 63 is at the proper location to produce the desiredrise, portion 66 of the structure can be pivoted into contact with thefree edge of the panel 63 and locked in position.

Referring now to FIG. 7, in the illustrated embodiment each haunchsection 28 is defined by an inner surface 30 with a radius of curvatureR_(H), and the inner surface 20 of each side wall intersects with theinner surface of its adjacent haunch section 28 at an interior haunchintersect line or point 70, which is the point of transition from theplanar surface 20 to the radiused surface 30. A vertical distance D_(IT)between the height of the defined interior haunch intersect line 70 andthe height of top dead center of the arch-shaped inner surface of thetop wall should be no more than about eighteen percent (18%) of theradius of curvature R_(TW) of the arch-shaped inner surface 24 of thetop wall at top dead center in order to more effectively reduce thehaunch corner thickness. Also, a ratio of the vertical distancesD_(OT)/D_(IT), where D_(OT) is the vertical distance between the heightof exterior corner 32 of the haunch and the height of top dead center ofthe arch-shaped outer surface of the top wall, should preferably be noless than about 55% and, more preferably, no less than about 58%.Moreover, the exterior corner 32 of the haunch section 28 is spacedlaterally outward of the interior haunch intersect line 70 by arelatively small distance, and particularly a horizontal distance thatis less than the horizontal width W_(SB) of the side wall bottomsurface. For example, in certain implementations the horizontal distanceD_(IO) between each interior haunch intersect line 70 and thecorresponding exterior corner 32 is preferably no more than about 95% ofthe horizontal width W_(SB) of the side wall bottom surface, and morepreferably no more than about 91%.

Referring now to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8-10, in some cases it isdesirable to provide a vertical flat segment 80 at the bottom portion ofeach side wall 16. The vertical flat 80 facilitates the use of blockingstructure (e.g., wooden blocks 82 with corresponding vertical surfaces)in combination with the keyway/channel 84 in concrete footing 85 to holdthe culvert sections in place, preventing the bottom ends of the sidewalls from moving outward under the weight of the culvert section, untilthe bottom ends are grouted/cemented in place.

As shown in FIGS. 11-14, each end unit of the plurality of concreteculvert sections includes a corresponding headwall assembly 90positioned on the top wall and the side walls of the unit. As shown, inone implementation, each headwall assembly 90 includes a top headwallportion 92 and side headwall portions 94 that are formed unitary witheach other and connected to the top wall and side walls by at least onecounterfort structure 96 on the top wall and at least one counterfortstructure 98 on each side wall. The counterfort structures may beconsistent with those shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,556,451(copy attached). In another implementation, as suggested by dashed lines100, headwall portions 94 and 96 may be formed as three distinct pieces.Alternatively, as suggested by dashed line 102 the headwall assembly maybe formed in two mirrored halves. Wingwalls 104 may also be provided inabutment with the side headwall portions and extending outward therefromas shown.

Although FIGS. 11-14 shows a fairly standard footing system for use inconnection with the inventive culvert sections of the presentapplication, alternative systems could be used. For example, the culvertsections could be used in connection with the foundation structuresshown and described in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/505,564,filed Jul. 11, 2011 (copy attached).

As shown in FIG. 15, the concrete culvert section typically includesembedded reinforcement 110 and 112 generally running in proximity to andalong the inner and outer surfaces of the top wall 14 and side walls 16.

As reflected in FIGS. 5 and 6 above, in one embodiment concrete culvertsof varying rises can be achieved by maintaining the outside corners ofthe top wall in the same position, but pivoting the outside surface ofeach side wall outward for larger rises, or inward for smaller rises. Inan alternative embodiment per FIGS. 16-18, different rises may beachieved by shifting the outside corners of the top wall outward forlarger rises and inward for smaller rises. In particular, as shown inFIGS. 16 and 17, for the rise shown in solid line form the outsidecorner is located at position 32 and the outer surface 22 of the sideextends downward slightly toward the inner surface 20 producing acertain degree of side wall taper. When a lower rise is desired theoutside corner is shifted inward to location 32 a and when a higher riseis desired the outside corner is shifted outward to a location 32 b.Thus, the width of the upper portion of the side wall is greater forhigher rises and lower for smaller rises. The horizontal bottom part 50of each side wall may be the same as between the different rises, andlikewise the vertical part or flat 80 of the bottom of each side wallmay have the same height dimension as between the different rises.

FIG. 18 reflects a form system for achieving the above embodiment, wherethe form system includes a top wall outer surface form unit 150, a topwall inner surface form unit 152, a haunch interior surface form unit154, a side wall inner surface form unit 156, a side wall outer surfaceform unit 158 and a side wall bottom surface unit 160. To achievedifferent rises using this form system, the form unit 158 is moved alongthe surface of the form unit 150 (per arrow 162) to the needed locationand bolted thereto, and the form unit 160 is moved to the appropriatelocation along the space between form units 156 and 158 (per arrow 164)to the appropriate location and bolted thereto. During this movement theform unit 158 slides across the top of the form seat or base structures166 a and 166 b on which the form units are supported. The interior sideface 170 of the form unit 158 maintains its relative angular orientationwith respect to the opposed side face 172 of the form unit 156regardless of where the form unit 158 is positioned, thus maintaining asimilar degree of leg taper as between different rises. The form units158 and 160 may additionally be bolted to the form base structure(s) 166a and/or 166 b when moved to the needed locations for a given rise toassure desired positioning. A system of alignable openings in the formunits 150, 158, 160 and/or the base structures 166 a and 166 b may beprovided for such purpose.

Referring now to FIGS. 19-21, in one embodiment the culvert sections aresupported atop a foundation system having precast foundation units 200with a ladder configuration as shown. The units have spaced apart andelongated upright walls 202 and 204 forming a channel 205 between thewalls and cross-member supports 206 extending transversely across thechannel to connect the walls 202 and 204. The foundation units 200 lacksany bottom wall, such that open areas or cells 208 extend verticallyfrom the top to bottom of the units in the locations between thecross-members 206. Each cross-member support 206 includes an uppersurface with a recess 210 for receiving the bottom portion of one sideof the bridge/culvert sections 214. The side wall portions of the bridgeunits 214 extend from their respective bottom portions upwardly awayfrom the combination precast and cast-in-place concrete foundationstructure and inward toward the other combination precast andcast-in-place concrete foundation structure at the opposite side of thebridge unit. The recesses 210 extend from within the channel 205 towardthe inner upright wall member 204, that is the upright wall memberpositioned closest to central axis 212 of the bridge system. Thus, asbest seen in FIG. 35, the upright wall member 202 has a greater heightthan the upright wall member 204.

The spacing of the cross-members 208 preferably matches the depth of thebridge/culvert sections 214, such that adjacent end faces of theside-by-side bridge units abut each other in the vicinity of therecesses 210. Each cross-member support 206 also includes one or morelarger through openings 216 for the purpose of weight reduction andallowing concrete to flow from one open area or cell 208 to the next.Each cross-member support also includes multiple axially extendingreinforcement openings 218. An upper row 220 and lower row 222 ofhorizontally spaced apart openings 218 is shown, but variations arepossible. Axially extending reinforcement may be extended through suchopenings prior to delivery of the foundation units 200 to theinstallation site, but could also be installed on-site if desired. Theseopenings 218 are also used to tie foundation units 200 end to end forlonger foundation structures. In this regard, the ends of the foundationunits 200 that are meant to abut an adjacent foundation unit may besubstantially open between the upright wall members 202 and 204 suchthat the abutting ends create a continuous cell 224 in whichcast-in-place concrete will be poured. However, the far ends of the endfoundation units 200 in a string of abutting units may typically includean end-located cross-member 206 as shown.

The walls 202 and 204 include reinforcement 226 that includes a portion228 extending vertically and a portion 230 extending laterally into theopen cell areas 208 in the lower part of the foundation unit 200. At theinstallation site, or in some cases prior to delivery to the site,opposing portions 230 of the two side walls can then be tied together bya lateral reinforcement section 232.

The precast foundation units 200 are delivered to the job site andinstalled on ground that has been prepared to receive the units (e.g.,compacted earth or stone). The bridge/culvert sections 214 are placedafter the precast foundation units are set. The cells 208 remain openand unfilled during placement of the bridge units 214 (with theexception of any reinforcement that may have been placed either prior todelivery of the units 200 to the job site or after delivery). Shims maybe used for leveling and proper alignment of bridge/culvert sections214. Once the bridge units 214 are placed, the cells 208 may then befilled with an on-site concrete pour. The pour will typically be made tothe upper surface level of the foundation units 200. In this regard, andreferring to FIG. 35, due to the difference in height of the respectivesides of the foundation unit 200, the bottom portion 240 of the bridgeunit will be captured and embedded within the cast-in-place concrete 242at the outer side of bottom portion 240. After the on-site pour, thecast-in-place concrete at the outer side of the bottom portion 240 ofthe bridge unit is higher than a bottom surface of the bottom portion240 to embed the bottom portion at its outer side, and the cast-in-placeconcrete at the inner side of the bottom portion of the bridge unit issubstantially flush with the bottom surface of the bottom portion 240.In this manner, the flow area beneath the bridge units is not adverselyimpacted by embedment of the bottom portions 240 of the bridge units.

It is to be clearly understood that the above description is intended byway of illustration and example only and is not intended to be taken byway of limitation, and that changes and modifications are possible. Forexample, while haunch sections with curved inner surfaces and exteriorcorners are shown, variations are possible, such as flat inner surfacesand/or a chamfered or flat at the exterior corner. Also, embodiments inwhich the side walls are not tapered are possible. Moreover, twin leafembodiments are contemplated, in which the each concrete culvert sectionis formed by two halves having a joint (e.g., per dashed line 180 inFIG. 16) at a central portion of the top wall of the culvert section.Various joint types could be used, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 6,243,994. While one embodiment of a foundation system is shown, theculvert assembly could be placed atop any suitable foundation, includingfoundation systems with pedestal structures. Accordingly, otherembodiments are contemplated and modifications and changes could be madewithout departing from the scope of this application.

What is claimed is: 1-14. (canceled)
 15. A method of manufacturing aconcrete culvert section having an open bottom, a top wall and spacedapart side walls to define a passage thereunder, each of said side wallshaving a substantially planar inner surface and a substantially planarouter surface, the top wall having an arch-shaped inner surface and anarch-shaped outer surface and a substantially uniform thickness, eachside wall having varying thickness that decreases when moving from thetop of each side wall to the bottom of each side wall, first and secondhaunch sections, each haunch section joining one of the side walls tothe top wall, each haunch section defining a corner thickness greaterthan the thickness of the top wall, the method comprising: providing aform system in which, for each side wall, an interior form structureportion defines the position of the inner surface of the side wall andan exterior form structure portion defines the position and orientationof the outer surface of the side wall, the exterior form structureportion arranged to pivot or to move along a surface of a top wall formstructure portion; based upon an established bottom span or rise for theculvert section, pivoting the exterior form structure portion or movingthe exterior form structure portion to a position that sets a relativeangle between interior form structure portion and the exterior formstructure portion; and filling the form structure with concrete toproduce the culvert section.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein theexterior form structure portion for each side wall includes a downwardfacing side arranged to slide over a corresponding side wall form seatstructure.
 17. The method of claim 15 wherein a bottom form structure ispositioned between the interior form structure and the exterior formstructure to define the intended width for the bottom surface of theresulting side wall. 18-24. (canceled)
 25. A concrete culvert assemblyfor installation in the ground, comprising a set of spaced apartelongated footers, a plurality of precast concrete culvert sectionssupported by said footers in side by side alignment, each of saidconcrete culvert sections having: an open bottom, an arch-shaped topwall and spaced apart side walls to define a passage thereunder, each ofsaid side walls extending downward and outward from the top wall, eachof said side walls having a substantially planar inner surface and asubstantially planar outer surface, first and second haunch sections,each haunch section joining one of the side walls to the top wall, eachhaunch section defining a corner thickness greater than a thickness ofthe top wall, each side wall being tapered from top to bottom such thata thickness of each side wall decreases when moving from the top of eachside wall to the bottom of each side wall, a bottom portion of each sidewall having an exterior vertical flat extending upward from a horizontalbottom surface thereof, wherein the exterior vertical flat is betweenabout 3 inches and 7 inches high.
 26. The concrete culvert assembly ofclaim 25 wherein each concrete culvert section is formed in two halves,each half formed by one side wall and a portion of the top wall, the twotop portions secured together along a joint at a central portion of thetop wall of the culvert section.
 27. The concrete culvert assembly ofclaim 25 wherein each culvert section is seated atop a foundation systemand the exterior vertical flat of each culvert section abuts lateralsupporting structure of the foundation system.
 28. The concrete culvertassembly of claim 27 wherein the foundation system includes precastconcrete units and cast-in-place concrete, the lateral supportingstructure is cast-in-place concrete.